this novel represents the culmination of days of trying to be a goodreads giveaway winner. thank you, goodreads! After The Party isn’t exactly the happiest read you’ll ever encounter because for the majority of the book we see Jem and Ralph’s relationship disintegrate and, believe me, it isn’t particularly pretty. There’s no definitive starting point that marks the potential beginning of the end for Jem and Ralph, it just seems to be the way life has gone for them. They have two children – the ever lovely Scarlett and Blake – and the change in dynamics that came with having children weren’t what Jem or Ralph expected. Up until Jem and Ralph had kids, they were solely focused on each other (as you’d expect) and after having kids, their focuses changed and Ralph ended up feeling left out whereas Jem felt as if she was losing her real self – the carefree and younger version of herself.

of course, as such, the aura of mystery and anticipation surrounding its arrival unfortunately built-up the potential majesty of said-prize. DISCLOSURE: I listened to the audiobook of Ralph's Party by Lisa Jewell, narrated by Imogen Church and published by Penguin, via Overdrive. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

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This is not what I was expecting from Lisa Jewell. The previous Lisa Jewell books I've read were suspense thrillers, this was more a love triangle and it wasn't thrilling in any way. During all this drama, Gervase has spent time with each of the boys. He does this thing where he holds their hands and looks deep into their eyes and they go all gooey inside and wind up spilling everything to him. Turns out he's a bit psychic, a gift he got from his mom. He advises all the boys. However, it is unfortunate that "The Ralph's Story" falls short in creating truly memorable and authentic characters. The reliance on stereotypes and clichés undermines the potential impact of the story, leaving a sense of missed opportunities for deeper exploration and emotional resonance.

Meet the residents of the London brownstone on 31 Almanac Road who together weave a tangled web of romance. Ralph, a ne'er-do-well artist, suddenly realizes he's head over heels in love with his new flatmate Jem, the most fun and sensible girl he's ever encountered. Unfortunately, Ralph's best friend, Smith, has already won Jem's affections, although Smith has not entirely given up his passion for the femme fatale, Cheri, who lives upstairs. Across the hall, Karl and Siobhan have been happily unmarried for years, until Karl gets a smashing job as a London rush-hour DJ and momentarily gets tempted into Cheri's cozy lair. These six star-crossed tenants become more enamored, and more confused, as the story progresses-until their true destinies are revealed on one crucial night-the evening of the extravaganza that is . . . Ralph's party. This wonderfully hip new novel was an instant popular success when it was first published in England, and American readers are sure to be captivated by the debut of a talented new writer. I thought this was the latest from Lisa Jewell, as it just was added to my library, but a minute into it the anachronisms (a popular rush hour radio dj?) and then realized Ralph's Party was her first book. It doesn't read like the Jewell I know and I was expecting something creepy or a murder to happen at some point, but instead got some sort of romantic drama. The result was refreshing for my usual reads. Tony is with Ness, but he really wants Milly. Milly has confided in him about what an ass Sean is being about the baby. Sean has confided in him about how he doesn't really want a baby. Tony told Sean to grow up. They have a dinner one evening and things comes to blows between Sean and Milly and Sean leaves. Ness goes to bed and leaves Tony alone with Milly. Tony tells Milly how wonderful he thinks she is and they kiss. Then Tony realizes he doesn't really want Milly and that them doing anything would be a huge mistake. And all of a sudden, he's over his crush. He makes love to Ness that night and professes his love, but in his head, it was just something he said not something he meant. He breaks up with Ness. Ness is close to mom so she heads to her house, but mom is out. Only Ned is there. Ned comforts her and realizes how great she is. He decides to escort her to the party. After The Party is an incredibly emotional read because it’s clear that Ralph and Jem belong together no matter what so to see their relationship self-destruct is horrible to read. I wanted to shake them both and tell them to stop being so silly. I rarely get so involved with characters but with Jem and Ralph I just couldn’t get enough. It helps that Lisa Jewell gives us both Ralph and Jem’s point of view, making for a very fair view of their relationship. Lisa Jewell really is a fantastic writer because, to be blunt, After The Party isn’t your usual boy-meets-girl-they-fall-in-love affair, After The Party is about what it’s like after being together for a huge amount of time and all the troubles a modern couple face these days. It was a very turbulent year in the life of Jem and Ralph and I really didn’t know how it would end. MY THOUGHTS: Light, fluffy, funny but with hidden depths, Ralph's Party is reminiscent of the Oscar Wilde classic The Importance of Being Ernest. I enjoyed this comedic romp, Lisa Jewell's first novel which she wrote as the result of a dare. There are a few cringeworthy moments, but nothing out of character. Though I must admit that Ralph's character could be extremely irritating at times.

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Ralph, one of the flat mates in the apartment where the story is focused, goes into his new flatmate’s room and reads her diary. Then he smells her bra and talks in detail about how she was hiding her cup size well. And all of this is just in the first 10% of the book. There was some weird descriptions of the fact she’d put on weight and her husband liked it because she ‘felt like a chubby school girl’ and he’d never gotten to sleep with a chubby school girl. jewell has never met a plot device she didn't like. - seriously, what DOESN'T happen here. crumbling relationships, unplanned pregnancies, planned pregnancies, planned abortions, spontaneous abortions, stalkers, drug addiction, infidelity (emotional and physical), trips to california, revenge sex, celebrities,quasi-religious conversions/cults, etc. TOO MUCH! it was like the last hour of armageddon (the movie) where you're pretty sure they're going to get out of this whole "end of the world" mess but first the drill has to jam and steve buscemi has to ricochet off a meteor. towards the end, if one more thing happened, i would have been forced to close the book prematurely.